Prince Harry Stopped Giving Diana's Fund Money to Sentebale After Fallout, Gives It to Elephants Instead

Prince Harry has redirected his share of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund away from Sentebale, the charity he co-founded in his mother's memory, toward elephant conservation in Botswana.

The twist is remarkably personal. In 2025, £5,432 from the fund went to Elephants Without Borders, helping to fit satellite-tracking collars to two elephants named Archie and Lili, after Harry and Meghan Markle's children.

For years, Harry's Diana-related proceeds had gone to Sentebale. Now, following a bitter rupture with the charity's leadership, the money is supporting wildlife in a part of Africa that has long held a special place in his life.

From Diana's Fund to Botswana

The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund was established after Diana's death in 1997 and formally closed in 2012. The Royal Foundation took legal control of the fund in 2013, preserving it to receive occasional legacies and donations.

After Harry and Prince William separated their charitable activities, the brothers agreed to divide future proceeds from the fund. Harry chose Sentebale, the organisation he founded with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in 2006, to support vulnerable young people in southern Africa, particularly those affected by HIV and AIDS.

According to the Royal Foundation's accounts, Sentebale received £43,866 from Harry's share between 2020 and 2024. Its final recorded payment was £16,743 in 2024. Then the destination changed.

The Sentebale Fallout

Harry's relationship with Sentebale chair Dr Sophie Chandauka collapsed in 2025, triggering a dramatic boardroom crisis. Harry, Prince Seeiso and several trustees stepped down amid the dispute.

Chandauka accused Harry of bullying and harassment, while Harry and those close to him strongly disputed her allegations. The Charity Commission later found no evidence of widespread or systemic bullying or harassment at Sentebale and no evidence of over-reach by either Harry or Chandauka.

However, it criticised all parties involved for allowing the dispute to play out publicly and said the failure to resolve it internally had damaged Sentebale's reputation and risked undermining public trust. The regulator did not adjudicate individual allegations of bullying or harassment.

The fallout did not end there. In March 2026, Sentebale lodged a defamation claim against Harry and former trustee Mark Dyer in the High Court in London. Court records show the claim was filed on 24 March and became public in April.

The charity alleges that the pair were involved in an adverse media campaign that caused reputational and operational harm. Harry and Dyer have disputed the allegations. Against that increasingly bitter backdrop, Harry's Diana Fund money had already found a new destination.

Elephants Replace Sentebale

The Royal Foundation's accounts show that Harry's £5,432 share in 2025 went to Elephants Without Borders, a Botswana-based conservation organisation founded by biologist Dr Mike Chase.

The accounts say that, at Harry's request, half of the net proceeds received by the Diana Fund since 18 December 2019 would be donated to a charity of his choosing. In 2025, Harry's portion was directed to Elephants Without Borders.

Importantly, the accounts establish the change in destination, but do not say Harry redirected the money because of the Sentebale dispute. The timing is striking, but the reason for the change has not been publicly stated.

Meet Archie and Lili

The most eye-catching part of the story is what the donation helped accomplish. Two elephants in Botswana's Okavango Delta were fitted with satellite-tracking collars, allowing conservationists to monitor their movements across the region.

They were named Archie and Lili after Harry and Meghan's children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. The children even had a hand in the details. Archie chose a blue collar for the elephant named after him, while Lilibet chose purple for hers.

It is an unusually intimate connection between the Sussex family and the conservation project, turning a relatively modest donation into something far more symbolic.

Why Botswana Matters to Harry

Elephants Without Borders is not a random new cause for Harry. He has known Dr Chase for years, and the pair have worked together on conservation projects in Botswana.

Harry and Meghan also travelled to Botswana early in their relationship, where they participated in conservation work involving elephants.

Harry later worked with the organisation during the Sussexes' 2019 southern Africa tour. Meghan also narrated Disney's Elephant, with proceeds from the project benefiting Elephants Without Borders.

So when Harry's Diana Fund money moved toward elephant conservation, it followed a relationship with Botswana that stretches back years.

A New Chapter for Diana's Legacy

The amount involved is small by royal charity standards, but the symbolism is difficult to miss. For years, Harry's share of Diana Fund income supported Sentebale, the charity he created with Prince Seeiso in his mother's memory.

In 2025, that money instead helped track two elephants named after Harry's own children. The change does not erase Sentebale's place in Harry's charitable history. Nor do the Royal Foundation's accounts establish that his dispute with Sentebale caused the funding change.

But it does mark a striking new chapter, one in which Diana's continuing charitable legacy is now helping conservationists follow Archie and Lili across Botswana's Okavango Delta.